Noland: Shirley tenders resignation

January 12, 2013

CHARLES TOWN -Jefferson County Commissioner Patsy Noland said Friday evening that Jefferson County Sheriff Robert "Bobby" Shirley has tendered his resignation as sheriff effective immediately.

Shirley was indicted by a federal grand jury in June on one count of deprivation of rights under the color of law and falsifying a document with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation in connection with the alleged beating of convicted bank robber Mark Daniel Haines, of Harpers Ferry.

Shirley is accused of kicking and stomping Haines after a Dec. 27, 2010, police pursuit following a failed bank robbery and falsifying records during a subsequent investigation. He had been scheduled to go to trial Jan. 22 in Martinsburg's U.S. District Court on the charges, but his attorney, Kevin D. Mills, filed a motion earlier this week seeking to continue the trial. Shirley is now scheduled to appear in court Monday for a hearing in the case.

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SHIRLEY

"Actually, Bobby stopped by my house this evening, and he actually tendered his resignation as sheriff effective immediately. That's what the letter says that he handed to me that he tendered his resignation as sheriff of Jefferson County effective immediately and it's dated today," Noland said Friday evening."It says 'I, Robert "Bobby" Shirley, do hereby tender my resignation as the sheriff of Jefferson County effective immediately' and he dated it in his handwriting today, the 11th day of January, 2013, and it is signed by him."

A secretary with Mills' law office was reached Friday evening and a reporter left two separate messages seeking comment from the attorney, but the calls seeking comment were not returned as of 9:30 p.m. Friday.

A message left with Shirley seeking comment Friday evening also had not been returned.

On Jan. 3, government prosecutors filed a notice of intent to present evidence that Shirley shot at another man, whom he caught having sex with his wife, while on duty. Shirley was never charged and he and his wife later divorced, according to court records.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul T. Camilletti, who is prosecuting Shirley's case, wrote in the notice filed last week that the incident is "evidence of defendant's readiness to abuse the power of his position."

Attached to that notice was a transcript of Shirley's testimony during a sentencing hearing involving another man in an unrelated case. Shirley admits to firing a shot from his service revolver at a man who was found having sex with his now ex-wife. Prosecutors, however, failed to file the transcript under seal, resulting in media outlets, including the Associated Press, obtaining access to the information. Mills' motion filed earlier this week sought to continue Shirley's trial as a result.

Shirley had been re-elected to a second term as Jefferson County Sheriff in November.